David Moyes knows what he is getting for £27.5m Marouane Fellaini

MIDWAY through last season, when David Moyes was still Everton manager, he gave a unique insight into the attributes that make Marouane Fellaini tick.

PUBLISHED: 00:00, Wed, Sep 4, 2013

Marouane Fellaini has rejoined his former Everton manager David Moyes at Old Trafford

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Express, Moyes outlined the midfielder’s strengths, and the areas in which he needed to improve, fully aware that teams such as Manchester City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain were courting the Belgium international.

Some eight months on and it is Moyes who will continue to oversee Fellaini’s development after striking a £27.5million deal to take him to Manchester United.

HEADING POWER

Marouane should score more goals with his head. He needs to get a bit more power in his neck muscles and quite often he uses his chest instead of his head because his chest control is so exceptional.

But his size means he is so important to us in both penalty areas. He prevents a lot of goals from opposition set-pieces.

Sometimes there are big players who can’t get off the ground but, when he needs it, he has a big leap. That is a great quality to have.

SHOOTING

It’s improving. He has really long limbs and he has done an awful lot of work in the gym in the last year or two to improve his leg strength.

As a result, his legs are a lot stronger and powerful. We are seeing the benefit of that because he is scoring a few strikes now – his goal against Arsenal [in a 1-1 draw last November] which he curled in was with his weaker left foot.

I wouldn’t publicly set a target in terms of goals, but people say midfielders should get into double figures.

David Moyes spoke to the Express last season about Marouane Fellaini's skills and attributes

PASSING

In terms of his short passing, he is really good and he has very good control. He is working on his long passing, but a lot of the time he is the one who is receiving long passes, so we don’t see too much of that side of his game.

When he drops back in midfield in time that is an area you would be looking to improve, just through lots of practice and encouragement to make the pass if it is right.

Xabi Alonso is a great long passer and Paul Scholes has that gift as well – players who can take the ball and ping it anywhere.

TEMPERAMENT AND TACKLING

His temperament is actually very good. He is quite a laid-back boy, but he sometimes shows his fiery side [he was sent off against Stoke last season for butting Ryan Shawcross].

His tackling is something he is working on, although having such long legs, sometimes it can look as if his timing is out. That is the same with a lot of bigger footballers.

When Marouane first joined us, he had a lot of bookings and it was important that he worked on his discipline because we want him out on the pitch as often as possible.

He couldn’t quite understand why he was being penalised and he felt as though other players were actually fouling him. Now his maturity has improved.

WORK-RATE

His work-rate is really good. He covers big distances during a game because of his long legs and always plays with high intensity. I would say his work-rate is up there with the best in the game.

He is committed and he covers a lot of ground. He really is a rounded player. Look at all the great players Belgium have, but whenever I go and watch them I always think he is the best player. That isn’t just me saying that because he is our player. He genuinely stands out.

Look at all the great players Belgium have, but whenever I go and watch them I always think he is the best player

David Moyes

FUTURE ROLE

He has been playing behind the striker for us for a while now and, to begin with, he probably wasn’t sure about the role. Now he is quite enjoying it and realises this is where he can do a really good job.

We dropped him back and he was still good, but a little less disciplined.

With experience he will probably go back there and then he does not need to take every throw-in.